English Notes Henri-Edmond CROSS 1856-1910 CANALE PONTE LUNGO, peint entre septembre 1903 et mars 1905 Beginning in 1903, Cross entered his richest period, a period when his imagination took over from the self-imposed stylistic constraints of the past. Nevertheless, 1903 began with a severe attack of rheumatism followed by a long stay in Paris during which the artist underwent electrical treatments. In July and August 1903, Cross, accompanied by his wife, went to Venice for the first time. His travel journal provides precious information on his impressions, joys, and disappointments. He admired Veronese and Tintoretto but found Canaletto “cold and linear”. However, it was Venice and the surrounding lagoon that made the strongest impression. He walked and took a gondola throughout the city, marveling at the play of light and color in the water and on the Venetian palaces. “The admiration and taste for this Provençale coast is a good preparation for the sensual pleasures of Venice,” he wrote in his notebook on July 11, 1903. “Their very different styles of beauty share a kind of amiability: one is brown and naked, while the other blond, and dressed in the richest jewels.” Watercolors executed on site convey the strength of his attraction, showing a new freedom compared to the methodological projects of the past. His brushstrokes loosen and lengthen, inspired by a new, creative enthusiasm. These watercolors inspired him to create a series of paintings of Venice upon his return to Saint-Clair**. According to Félix Fénéon, he completed a total of fifteen canvases. The list he provided in the Bulletin de la Vie Artistique*** coincides with the list of paintings exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants and at the Libre Esthétique show in 1904, and the following year at the Galerie Druet. Isabelle Compin, author of the authoritative H.E. Cross, dates Canale Ponte Lungo between September 1903 and March 1905. The artist could have completed the painting soon after his return from the Venice trip in the month of September 1903, or prior to the exhibit at the Galerie Druet which opened March 21, 1905, exhibited as work no. 28. The painting, executed in the Divisionist technique, indicates that he is no longer interested in working in a completely realistic vein. His touch, still square and regular, serves as a vector for self-affirmation and a more personal interpretation of light and reflections, especially in the foreground. The “Venetian” paintings, as they might be called, with their bright tones, were enthusiastically received during the exhibits mentioned above, and had a decisive influence on Matisse's painting. *Title given by H.E. Cross **In 1892, Cross built a house at Saint-Claire near the Lavandou region in Provence ***Cross died at age 55 on May 16, 1910. Félix Fénéon, with the help of Paul Signac, made an inventory of the works stored at Saint-Claire. He found “the last sketchbook of Henri-Edmond Cross” which he published in the Bulletin de la vie artistique (May 15 - October 15, 1922). Literature : Isabelle Compin, H.E. Cross, Quatre Chemins-Editart, Paris, 1964; Joan Ungersma Halperin, Félix Fénéon, NRF, Gallimard, 1991; 3 October 1988 - 4 January 1999, Douai, Musée de la Chartreuse de Douai, Cross et le néo-impressionnisme (articles by Françoise Baligand, Sylvie Carlier, Isabelle Compin, Monique Nonne, Henri Edmond Cross, Somogy Editions d'art, 1998).